Badenoch: 'I'm staying the course' to fix Tory party

KEMI Badenoch has insisted she is “staying the course” to fix the Conservative Party which she cast as the only “credible alternative” to Labour.

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Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch speaking ahead of the Conservative Party conference

(JONATHAN BRADY/P)

The Tory leader said she will use her party's conference, starting tomorrow in Manchester, to show voters “that we're the only party that can deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders”.

She acknowledged the Tories were having a “tough time” after last year’s landslide general election defeat, dismal poll ratings and a string of defections to Reform UK.

But she struck a defiant tone, portraying herself as the right leader to revive what she called the “distressed asset” of a party.